Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[piglett]

Find a central place to hold the sessions and have people come to you. There is a fellow That comes down to San Diego once per month and sets up shop in a friends back yard all he does for that day is process peoples birds for them.

deb

that doesn't sound like too bad of a plan Perchie

 

[ozexpat]

Holding classes is a great way to "sell" you young roos too

 

[ozexpat]

As our goat population increases and my contemplation on starting up a small scale piggery I started researching all sorts of alternative feeds and came ac cross an amazing site.

http://www.feedipedia.org


This site lists just about every edible plant and tree. It provides nutritional information as well as experiences with feeding them to various animals including poultry.

Its been a real eye opener for me.

Several years ago, when living in the Philippines, one of our sows got out. She was a monster size Great White named Wilma. Our tankal (pig pens) were free standing and we had no way to corral this big girl back into her pen. I was really upset at the thought of having to crash tackle her and then carry her back with half the village helping.

Dante, Bernie's brother, who was building our bamboo fence at the time had sold us the pigs when they were about 1/3 the weight. He saw the commotion and them walked up to a tree locally called Ipil Ipil. Leucaena, as it is formally known turned out to be candy to a pig and Dante led her back into her pen within minutes. It was a revelation but one that I did not act upon at the time. The experience did however replay many a night when I was unwinding from my day and heading towards sleep.

When I came across this site I entered Ipil into the search box. I learnt that its a very fast growing legume with protein content north of 20%. It is not ideal for chickens but can be a major part of a goats diet.

Analou planted 100 seeds this weekend.

We had recently planted 12 Malunggay Trees as well - after reading feedipedia we added 20 more.

Check out trees and shrubs that are available to you.

 

[Lillahimed]

Thanks for the link. It is incredibly insightful

 

[ozexpat]

feeding your birds their poop

http://www.feedipedia.org/node/66

 

[hotrodflash]

feeding your birds their poop

http://www.feedipedia.org/node/66

I have a neighbor who leases the property directly across the road from my property and he feeds poultry litter to his cows in the winter. I listen to them bawl constantly, 24 hours a day for 4 months every year and when they are removed from the leased land to his land, a few miles down the road, they have lost a significant amount of weight, their ribs and hip bones protrude horribly.
I grew up on a farm, feeding grain and hay in the winter and cows fed correctly will hold their weight well throughout the winter.

Maybe because of my bad experience with this feeding method by this neighbor, I just could not do this to any of my animals. It is quite disturbing to listen to them and know that they are hungry and they are just getting fed crap, literally crap.

 

[ozexpat]

I have a neighbor who leases the property directly across the road from my property and he feeds poultry litter to his cows in the winter. I listen to them bawl constantly, 24 hours a day for 4 months every year and when they are removed from the leased land to his land, a few miles down the road, they have lost a significant amount of weight, their ribs and hip bones protrude horribly.
I grew up on a farm, feeding grain and hay in the winter and cows fed correctly will hold their weight well throughout the winter.

Maybe because of my bad experience with this feeding method by this neighbor, I just could not do this to any of my animals. It is quite disturbing to listen to them and know that they are hungry and they are just getting fed crap, literally crap.

thats sad. i have read several articles about using chicken poop in silage in small proportions that worked very well on ruminants

 

[hotrodflash]

thats sad. i have read several articles about using chicken poop in silage in small proportions that worked very well on ruminants

I think he feeds poultry litter and hay exclusively and not enough of either to satisfy their hunger. We usually have green grass for most of the winter but in the numbers that he has concentrated on that land there is no way they can get enough forage to ease their hunger. It is really sad that a full time "rancher" treats his animals so poorly.

 

[perchie.girl]

feeding your birds their poop

http://www.feedipedia.org/node/66

I read this article and at the bottom it says the Data Sheet still being worked on Do not quote.... But I bet its just details that need to be added.

Quote: I have seen my own horse go back and pick through a poo pile and nibble on tidbits. At the time I was feeding Boss as a treat I had thought she was picking the ones out that haddn't been chewed. I mentioned it to the stable owner and she told me it was common because it replenishes the biology for the gut.

Quote: That is awful.... They need good clean forage... for their base feed.

deb

 

[Wisher1000]

Recently they had a class here, I think organized by the ag. extension office. $20 a person, BYOB (bring your own bird). I didn't have a bird to bring and it was a too far away. It really is quite a feasible side source of income. You know we'd spread the word for you

Where was that?